[bobmysterious]

As another Floridian, I second this!

 

[AudioDuck]

<Please note that this is a work in progress. I am doing it in several parts. I will remove this note when it is finished>


This was an epic CanJam experience. It was so big, I could have used 2 more days to hear everything I wanted to hear and that includes the fact that I have already heard a lot of products in my last 3 CanJam experiences. This is my first attempt to create an overall impressions thread I hope you like it. It is a summary of the products I really loved at CanJam Socal 2022.

First of all, I came along with what we call the Watercooler Travelling team. We post on this thread: The Watercooler:




At CanJam Socal, my favorite portable products were these:

Best new DAP: Hiby RS8. Finally, a TOTL R2R DAP with Android for Streaming. I A/B tested this DAP vs. LP6 Gold and I preferred the sound of the RS8. The sound was more powerful and dynamic with that great R2R natural sound and treble response with great bass. It takes the already great RS6 and takes it up a few levels. I already got on the wait list for buying this DAP.

Here is a picture of the Hiby RS8 paired with the T+A Solitaire P headphone.




Best of Show for new IEMs.

Win: Astell & Kern/Empire Ears Odyssey. To me, this is what I hoped for in an Odin II. It has that glorious bass response you would expect from Empire Ears and their W9+ Dynamic Drivers. But, it also has bone conduction, slightly tamed down upper mids and better treble response. Pair with First Times Cable and my N8ii, I found it to be the best Empire Ears product yet and I am a huge Empire Ears fan. I plan on buying it.

Astell & Kern / Empire Ears Odyssey



Place: Noble Viking Ragnar. This IEM is focused on the mids and I love great mids. From the moment I put these into my ears, I was hooked and totally engaged. It has a big and present sound. The key to a great mids focused IEM is to make sure the bass and treble are sufficient so it doesn't sound bass light and the treble isn't veiled. I think that Noble knocked this one out of the park by finding that balance. I bought this IEM.

Noble Viking Ragnar



Show: Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor. For a 12 BA and bone conduction driver. It has big bass. The tuning is fantastic and borders on bass head levels of bass. I think this is the best BA bass I have ever heard. Leo from UM told me that they custom designed new drivers for the bass which gives it is texture which is uncharacteristic of BA drivers. I honestly did not know the driver configuration when I heard it and I though it had dynamic drivers. If it weren't for the above 2 IEMs, I would have bought this. Maybe in the future.

Unique Melody Multiverse Mentor



New Cable for Traillii and Advar.

I did not have time to listen and compare all of the great new cables. I did have a mission which was to find 2 new cables. One for Traillii and one for Meze Advar.

For Traillii, I heard that several good candidates were Effect Audio Centurion, Eletech Ode to Laura, First Times Shielding or Meet Again. I already own First Times Shielding and Meet Again and I have a lot of PW Audio cables so I wanted to try something else. Centurion is an outstanding cable. I loved it when I first heard it. But, for Traillii, it killed the bass response. It was too bright. I preferred First Times Shielding. Then, when I paired it with Ode to Laura, it has just the right balance I was seeking. Not too bassy, not too bright. Just the right balance of everything I care about. Bass, mids and treble. And, with a very nice look. The Meet Again cable I may have preferred slightly, especially the new Special Edition, but the green color did not work with the Traillii reddish color. It would go with a nice green IEM. What is my new pairing for Traillii?

Eletech Ode to Laura



For Advar, I love the IEM, but I hate the cable. Terrible feel to it. I went to Effect Audio to see if it any of its new Signature Series cables would work. I already heard Ares S and Cadmus in the prototype phase. So, I first tried Eros S. Way too bright and lost the bass response. Same thing with Cadmus. The best pairing was with Ares S. I love the ergonomics of the cable, so I bought it.

Effect Audio Ares S




My favorite desktop products at CanJam Socal were as follows:

Full Sized Headphones:

Win: ZMF Caldera. This is the new ZMF Planar headphone. Bevin was nice enough to let me take care pair out into the show room and pair it with a lot of different amps. By far my favorite pairing was with the DIY amp ZMF had in its demo room. It is known as the Glenn GL3. If they offered this for sale, I would buy it at any price. Paired with the ZMF Caldera, it was end game sound. It was truly one of the few moments where I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Second favorite was with the Ampsandsound Red October where it took on a very smooth characteristic. Then, the Wells Audio stack which is my dream desktop system where the sound stage expands to sound like a 2 channel system. I will be buying this headphone when it comes out in November.

ZMF Caldera paired with Cayin HA-3A amp



What makes the Caldera special is that it sounds like a combination of a Dynamic Driver and Planar headphone. It is just a planar, but Zach tuned it in a way that it maintains that ZMF mid forward sound with technical attributes of a planar making it a one of a kind sound. Interestingly, when you pair the Caldera with different amps, it takes on different characteristics like a chameleon. Zach was aiming for a different sound instead of just competing with planars. I think he achieved it. It sounds like a ZMF headphone, but with the resolution of a planar. Truly spectacular and different. Couple these sounds attributes with the beautiful artisan woodwork that only ZMF is known for and you have a one of a kind headphone that everyone should take a moment to hear. It's probably why Zach's demo room was the busiest of the entire show.

Glenn GL3 Custom Amp (I want this amp).



Place: Stax SR-X9000. This is my current favorite headphone. I heard it first in Chicago and then at another headfier's home. This time, I got to hear it against other Electrostats including the Shangri-la jr and sr and I loved the X9000 more than any of them. In an A/B test of X9000 vs. my prior number 1, the X9000 edged it out due its slightly larger stage. Both have fantastic tonality especially for female jazz vocals and classical music. What is truly fascinating about the X9000 is it does not have overly ethereal sound typical of other electrostatic headphones.

Stax SR-X9000 paired with Woo Audio 3ES Electostatic Amp




Show: T+A Solitaire P. This headphone has fantastic bass. It can really dig deep and extends all they down to 10 hz and below. I got to hear this in a quiet environment since the T+A guys were having problems with their demo set up and I provided them with some cables to help them to allow DAPs to connect to their amp. This the third time I have heard them and this time properly amped. I can say it is fantastic and truly worthy of the praise it is getting from those lucky enough to have heard it. In addition, it can be powered by an amp. I did get a unique opportunity to hear it paired with the new RS8 DAP from Hiby courtesy of Musicteck. I thought it was a bit under powered because I had it all the way up to 80 to hear the full frequency response, especially its great subbass, but this could be because of the noisy show room floor.

T+A Solitaire P with HA200 Headphone amp




AMPs.

I did not have enough time to hear all of the amps I had on my demo list. So, unfortunately, this is not a comprehensive list. But, it does reflect the best of what I heard. The way I judge an amp is if it can properly drive my Susvara. That means it has it normally great mids and revealing treble, but also delivers a great bass response. I usually say that if a Susvara sounds bass light, it is because it is not properly amped.

My favorite amp is the Wells Audio Headtrip II level II monoblocks. I never like the LCD5 until I heard it on this amp. In fact everything sounds good on it It was another mind blowing experience. Stage outside of the head. Great separation and resolution. Sounds more like speakers than headphones. I think this amp can make my AirPods pro sound like Susvara.

Headtrip II level III monoblock amps with Commander Level III tube preamplifier and Cipher Tube DAC (my dream end game system)



Second favorite is the Woo Audio WA33. This sounds just so good with the 1266TC. The 1266TC really needs a tube amp with great mids to sound right and this amp does it right. It is nearly as good as the Wells Audio system at a fraction of the cost.

Woo Audio WA33



Third favorite was the new Woo Audio WA23. Besides making my Susvara sing with a great bass response. It is a beautiful work of art.

Woo Audio WA23 LUNA with my personal Susvara



Ampsandsound Red October. I love how smooth this made all of my headphones sound especially Susvara. Great bass and smooth treble and overall sound.



I got to heard the Benchmark HPA4 headphone amp. I liked it, but I was really looking forward to hearing how the AHB2 speaker amp would sound with my Susvara to see if a speaker amp would level up the sound. Maybe next time.



I also did not have time to listen to the Zahl HM1. Next time.

Thanks so much to the head fi team for putting on a great show. I wish it could be over 4-days





My favorite reviewers
@Resolve


@Precogvision



The one and only @crinacle

Great post! Thank you so much for sharing- it’s especially great for those of us who could not be there. Much appreciated!

 

[onecolorist]

I second this! Thank you all for taking the time to share your experiences. For me, it's hard to have the time to travel with business and family. When I one day attend my first CanJam, SoCal will be it!

 

[Pashmeister]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. Love living vicariously through you all. Hope I can attend next year’s Singapore Canjam and I hope it will be just as fabulous.

 

[ywheng89]

Anyone tried Dunu's Talos? Curious

 

[XERO1]

Anyone tried Dunu's Talos? Curious

Yeah. I thought it was tuned to be a little too dull in planar-only mode, and that it was a little too bright in P+BA mode. YMMV, of course.

I actually preferred the tuning of the Letshuoer S12 over both modes of the Talos.

 

[ywheng89]

Yeah. I thought is was tuned to be a little too dull in planar-only mode, and that is was a little too bright in planar+BA mode. YMMV, of course.

I actually preferred the tuning of the Letshuoer S12 over both modes of the Talos.

Ahhhh i see i see, i for one preferred the tuning on the S12 as well, i guess if the Talos is a little bright on the planar+BA mode to you, then probably i will feel the same as well. Haha

 

[DenverW]

So I was only able to go up for the day, and I'm curious how Saturday compared to Sunday as far as crowds. Lighter, heavier? I'm already planning my visit next year.

 

[elira]

So I was only able to go up for the day, and I'm curious how Saturday compared to Sunday as far as crowds. Lighter, heavier? I'm already planning my visit next year.

There’s usually less people on Sunday.

 

[Drak3]

So I was only able to go up for the day, and I'm curious how Saturday compared to Sunday as far as crowds. Lighter, heavier? I'm already planning my visit next year.

sunday is not too crowded.. definitely saturday is much busier..

 

[AlwaysForward]

Other opinions of mine that no one asked for: MM-500 sounds really nice. Almost can’t say anything about it since it’s so neutral. Comes alive on a tube amp tho. ZMF Planar sounds pretty solid, could do with more bass. CRBN sounds extremely precise and wide, bass is definitely a weak point, audible but no pressure. Some parts of Focal’s lineup is kinda meh to me. Stellia is the first one I noticed as good to my ears. Need to listen to Utopia 2022. Overall surprised by the fact they don’t have remarkable bass given they’re dynamic drivers and coated in beryllium. dCS Lina stack sounds awesome with the VZR Model One. That stack sounds awesome with everything honestly. Finally got to try the HD800S and I will say I thought they would be wider. I’ll try more IEMs tomorrow.

How did you find the VZR transients to stack up with the kilobuck stuff?

 

[Asterisk3095]

So I was only able to go up for the day, and I'm curious how Saturday compared to Sunday as far as crowds. Lighter, heavier? I'm already planning my visit next year.

Yes, Sunday was substantially more quiet

 

[Makiah S]

Day 2:
Headamp:
I bring my Omega to compare with the new X9000. Pretty interesting, similar characteristic sound. The Omega is more musicality and the X9000 has a larger sound stage and more detail.

Can confirm, as I heard this too, I also liked the top end on the omega as it was a little bit smoother but still engaging and articulate

I believe though with a little bit of BHSE Tube rolling you can match the musicality of the OG omega and keep X 9000s detail and improved imaging

Thank you again for bringing this! It was my first time hearing a production Omega! What a gem it is

 

[UntilThen]

By far my favorite pairing was with the DIY amp ZMF had in its demo room. It is known as the Glenn GL3. If they offered this for sale, I would buy it at any price.

It's called Glenn EL3N amp. Uses those Philips Miniwatt EL3N tubes, a predecessor of EL34.

A testament to Glenn's handiwork. I hope he gets to read this. I had the gorgeous Glenn Super OTL amp with 6 x 6bx7 tubes which I've since sold off. Was going to get the Glenn EL3N transformer coupled amp but I have moved on.

@whirlwind and @Zachik have the Glenn EL3N amps but they won't be parting with it I'm sure.

 

[DiscoProJoe]

It was great to come to my first CanJam this past Sunday afternoon, to meet a lot of friendly and helpful music fans, and to check out some IEMs.

In 2017, I attended Head-Fi's New York Spring Meet, where I set up a table and showed off the dual-listening setup of my portable headphone rig with DiscoProJoe's Rockbox EQ Presets, where I can make my V-Moda M-100s sound like a big car stereo. (Lots of Head-Fi'ers checked it out at that time, including @jude , @bozebuttons , @Monsterzero , @MikeZhao , and many others.)

I was happy that @jude remembered me from that meetup five years ago when chatting with him on Sunday at CanJam SoCal, and was also glad to chat with @bozebuttons 's friend @Frank I !

In late summer last year, I temporarily moved back to the U.S. (from lovely Chongqing, China) to study music production, vocal performance, and DJ'ing at an electronic music school here in Los Angeles, called Point Blank. (I plan to finish my studies next March, and then go back to East Asia somewhere next spring where my favorite types of music tend to be the most popular.)

Anyway, I'd like to get a good pair of IEMs within the next several months for DJ'ing and live performances. My ears are sensitive to mids & highs (but not to sub-bass and lower mid-bass), and I've always worn earplugs with rubber inserts when frequenting nightclubs, live shows, and sporting events. My hearing is really important to me and I don't want to mess it up with unprotected live performances.

I'm concerned that my longtime, trusty, closed-back, over-ear V-Moda M-100s.........won't muffle outside noise well enough at these events. I'm afraid I'd have to crank up the volume of my M-100s so much while DJ'ing (in order to hear what I'm doing with the music) that I can't hear the details in the treble, mids & bass -- which I adjust constantly throughout the performance to keep it sounding good. And then, on top of that, I'd have to go home with terrible tinnitus and hearing loss. Hmm...that sounds like fun, doesn't it?

So...I need a good pair of IEMs with sound quality that's as close to that of my V-Moda M-100s...as the current level of technology allows for.

I didn't have enough time to check out the majority of IEM brands at CanJam, but my first (and most important) stop was at the Jerry Harvey Audio booth. I'd seen a lot of good things about this brand and was curious to plug some pairs of them into my portable rig (with my Rockboxed iPod Classic containing my custom EQ-preset app...tethered to a Cayin C5 amp).

It was at this listening booth where I auditioned JH Audio's brand-new Sharona model. Of all of the several brands and models of IEMs I tested at CanJam, this was the only one that mostly met my standards for sound quality.

It had a quite well-detailed sound with good-sounding bass and mids, and with fairly-decent treble that all came together and worked pretty well, and that didn't have any issues with power handling and X-max (as a lot of over-ear headphone models tend to have with my portable rig...such as the Sennheiser HD 650)! ha

All in all, the JH Sharonas produced about 80% of the sound quality of my M-100s. For IEMs, this is passable for me.

By contrast, the other models of Jerry Harvey only sounded like they had about 45% of the sound quality of M-100s, the Kinera Freyas I tried later had about 35%, and the Meze-brand model...just 30%.

All the IEMs I heard at CanJam besides the Sharonas had really harsh treble that seriously lacked detail and sounded like one-note wonders.

So after getting home that evening, I read online about the special technology that's been put into the Sharonas (with its 16 balanced drivers per side and "Quad Supertweeters"), and it all makes sense.

(On a side note, I also checked out the Nuraphones at the Nurasound booth, and was pleasantly surprised at how well they rival my own portable rig with M-100s! Amazing sound, although I still prefer my own setup for several reasons. Headphones that run on batteries also tend to scare me a bit. For example, what if I'm working on a song at my computer for a long time, or what if I'm in the middle of a huge live performance..........and the battery goes dead? Oops.)

So it looks like in the next several months, I'll have to end up purchasing two big-ticket items: a pair of the JH Sharonas, and a Pioneer XDJ-XZ DJ deck-and-mixer set.

Unless anyone has some good suggestions for IEMs that are closer in sound quality to the V-Moda M-100 than the JH Sharona is, then that's where my "purchasing compass" is pointed at!

Needless to say, I'm really glad to be getting into music production and DJ'ing at this present moment with technology at the level it's at.

Now to conclude this long post...if you'd like to hear what I've done thus far, here's my second single I just released three months ago:



My vocals come in at around the 1-minute mark. (It's an '80s / '90s-style soft-rock piano power ballad.) Written, composed, produced, mixed, mastered, and performed all by......me......using Ableton software, Native Instruments' Kontakt plugins, and a simple MIDI keyboard. Used a small studio room at the music school to record my vocals.

On YouTube, you can open the description underneath the video to see the lyrics and other helpful links.

And also, here's a link to my 33-minute "final performance" from my intermediate-level DJ course, which I performed on Monday last week:

https://tinyurl.com/3e4frtjh

(There's also a Word file with a lot of info, such as the playlist and my methodology.)

It was recorded directly from a pair of Pioneer CDJ-3000 decks and a Pioneer DJM-900NXS2 mixer...to my laptop using Ableton. I made a few simple, minor edits to it, wrote a detailed documentation, and then submitted it for my grade in that class.

The classroom speakers were just playing at a medium level and weren't loud enough to damage anyone's ears, so I've always used my lovely M-100 headphones for that.

If you're in a hurry and just want to hear the best few minutes of it, then start playing it from the 7:05 mark and listen to it for three minutes from there. I was totally testing out the IEMs at CanJam with this particular song mashup playing!

Anyway, it was great meeting everyone and I hope to attend more Head-Fi events in the future whenever it's possible.

-- Joe Goodson (a.k.a., DiscoProJoe)